Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Ipswich, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham. (Croydon and Stratford will only be available to existing employees of the Insolvency Service). About the job Job summary The Insolvency Service is a leading Government agency which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the public and to business. The work we do is important to the proper functioning of markets, the economy in general and support for thousands of people each year who are in financial difficulty. BSD is an operational delivery directorate, covering some 300 staff with a budget of £12m, providing high volume, often transactional services to the public or supporting the provision of these services by others. BSD supports the main purpose of the Insolvency Service, delivering economic confidence through: Supporting those in financial distress, tackling financial wrongdoing and maximising returns to creditors. Making statutory redundancy payments to employees of insolvent/solvent companies. Managing the Debt Relief Order process and administering the online bankruptcy application process and Breathing Space process. Identifying wrongdoing associated with Debt Relief Orders and redundancy payment applications. Providing a first point of contact for all insolvency service enquiries. Processing distributions to creditors from PPI compensation payments. Providing estate accounting and other business services to the Agency. Redundancy Payments Service deals with 60,000 to 100,000 applications from people in financial distress each year. RPS pays out around £250-£450m annually to employees of insolvent and solvent companies who would otherwise be left without redundancy pay, arrears of salary, notice pay, etc. Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 10 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally, these include, Carers Network, Disability & Health, FACES Network Group, Grass Roots, LGBT, Mind Matters, No Limits, Part Time Workers, The Shed, and Womens Network Group. We offer full-time, part-time, job share and flexible ways of working. We value capability, technical skills and experience and we place great emphasis on lifetime development to support our people. We encourage our employees to become more involved in areas they feel strongly about, whether it be for the benefit of the agency, though our Engagement network or in their own local communities via volunteering opportunities. The Insolvency Service is a great place to work, learn and grow your career Job description As an RPS specialist technical officer, you will be supporting the business area on technical matters, fielding legislative and system-based queries and liaising with specialist areas across the agency. As a Senior Manager, you will be responsible for the planning, management, and leadership to deliver success for your team. The successful candidate will need to learn on the job seeking out help and support as approach to cases will often be bespoke depending on the type of business. You must be self-motivated and capable of working independently using your initiative to progress cases, technical queries and produce the written guidance and support material to underpin the role. This will involve approaching technical teams outside of RPS and BSD. The RPS Specialist Technical Officer leads one of our Tribunal and Triage Teams and is responsible for the line management of up to 6 B1 Case Workers covering our initial case assessments of all RPS cases and employment tribunal work. You will take ownership of high profile cases, liaising with external stakeholders to carry out early intervention wage checks. You will also represent the RPS at Employment Tribunal. This is an exciting high profile role within RPS that is both challenging technically and provides leadership and management responsibility. Responsibilities Conducting early intervention wage checks, liaison with Insolvency Practitioners and their Employment Rights agents, senior managers including the CEOs technical team, all RPS teams, CS&I and CST Writing timely, clear, concise, evidenced and technically accurate reports Producing the written process notes and guidance that underpins the Specialist Technical Officer role Assessing fraud risk associated with casework trends, investigating discrepancies, and quantifying what payments are due Defending RPS at employment tribunals ET (in writing or in person) when required Managing B1 team members responsible for the initial case assessments and the employment tribunal workstreams Collaborating across teams to take proactive steps to manage scarce resources Conducting audits as required under the RPS Audit Plan Other work within BSD commensurate with the B2 grade Person specification Knowledge of the legislative framework that RPS works within or knowledge of employment law would be advantage. The ability to grasp this knowledge quickly is essential. You must be a self-starter, with the ability to use your own initiative to progress cases and technical queries. This will involve approaching technical teams outside of RPS and BSD. You will have an inquisitive mind and be able to constructively challenge at all levels to achieve the right results. Able to keep your own and the teams efforts focused on the goals that really matter and successfully manage, support, and stretch yourself to deliver agreed outcomes by being proactive and taking ownership and accountability for decisions and commitments. You will have a keen eye for detail and a tenacious approach to your work and be willing to make decisions when they are needed even if they prove difficult or unpopular. You will have strong analytical and problem-solving skills and be able to recognise patterns and trends and draw key conclusions in a wide range of evidence and data. You will have the ability to build and establish positive relationships with a range of stakeholders to support the delivery of business outcomes. You will possess excellent interpersonal skills and communication skills, both written and verbal. You will be required to produce accurate written reports and have the confidence to represent the RPS at tribunal to provide cover for our Senior Employment Tribunal Representatives when required. Travel between the RPS sites may be required. Travel will be required to attend on site wage inspections/Employment Tribunals which may necessitate overnight stays. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Communicating and Influencing Making Effective Decisions Benefits Alongside your salary of £28,842, Insolvency Service contributes £8,355 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. We want you to have a good work-life balance and want to support you in all that you do, so we offer a great benefits package including: flexible working arrangements and flexi-time full time new entrants to the Civil Service and those Civil Servants on modernised terms and conditions will be entitled to 25 days leave increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years service in addition to this you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day of privilege leave competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave 5 days paid leave for learning and development 5 days paid for volunteering a Cycle to work scheme staff have access to an employee assistance programme, Workplace Wellness, for confidential, independent support and advice during difficult times in either their professional or personal life Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package where the employer makes a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. Your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken. This means, if you pay tax, your take-home pay will not be reduced by the full amount of your contribution; and your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire. For more information, visit www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience. As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and a 500-word personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. Your personal statement should be no more than 500 words and should explain how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria and our values within the person specification. Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview. We will test your experience as part of the application process, and if successful, you will be invited to a short interview where we will test your behaviours, experience and strengths. Full details of the selection process will be made available to shortlisted candidates once the sift has been completed. Expected timeline (subject to change) Sift w/c 17/2/25 Interview w/c 3/3/25 Location - MS Teams Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of this if you are selected for interview. Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process. Use of AI Candidates must ensure that their applications, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note that plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own. Further Information A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Any move to Insolvency Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service/Disclosure Scotland o n your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Infodisclosurescotland.co.uk New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. Transforming Workplaces The Insolvency Service is currently delivering an exciting five-year transformation project that started in April 2022 which will define our future direction supporting a gradual migration to a Regional Centre model combined with smarter ways of working. As part of this, transforming our estate will align us with the government modernisation programmes making The Insolvency Service a great place to work. We are letting you know about our future plans because if you are joining the Insolvency Service and are recruited into an office over the next five years that is not one of the Regional Centres, you will be expected to move to one of the Regional Centres in the future. This move would not attract financial assistance. The 11 Regional Centres are: Birmingham, Cardiff, Croydon, Edinburgh, Exeter, Ipswich, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Stratford. Hybrid Working Insolvency Service operates a hybrid working policy subject to business need, giving people the flexibility to choose when and where they work and collaborate with others. Individuals are expected to work from one of the office locations stated in the advert to connect with their colleagues, as required by their role and business team needs. There is flexibility to split the working week, spending a minimum of 60% in the workplace, which includes the office, site visits, court etc. Reasonable Adjustment If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via InsolvencyRecruitment.grs cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. Complete the Assistance required section in the Additional requirements page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if youre deaf, a Language Service Professional. Feedback Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). Apply and further information This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window). Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job contact : Name : Lucy Graham Email : lucy.grahaminsolvency.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : InsolvencyRecruitment.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk Further information A candidate can raise a complaint to the Insolvency Service if they think that: They have been discriminated against under the Equality Act 2010. There have been procedural irregularities at any stage of the recruitment process. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance: insolvencyrecruitment.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive you can then contact the Civil Service Commission. All complaints must be received by the contact point for applicants within 24 hours from the date the applicant is advised of their non-success at sift, assessment or interview. Complaints will be considered by an independent third-party outside of the recruitment campaign. The decision will be conveyed to the applicant, in writing, within 5 working days of receipt of the complaint. The recruitment process will usually be put on hold until the complaint has been resolved. Complaints may also be made to the Civil Service Commission at any time if the individual believes their application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles (appointment on merit through fair and open competition). However, complaints must first have been raised with Government Recruitment Service. 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